Abstract
It is possible that heritable variance in personality characteristics does not reflect (only) genetic and biological processes specific to personality per se. We tested the possibility that Five-Factor Model personality domains and facets, as rated by people themselves and their knowledgeable informants, reflect polygenic influences that have been previously associated with educational attainment. In a sample of over 3,000 adult Estonians, polygenic scores for educational attainment, based on small contributions from more than 150,000 genetic variants, were correlated with various personality traits, mostly from the Neuroticism and Openness domains. The correlations of personality characteristics with educational attainment-related polygenic influences reflected almost entirely their correlations with phenotypic educational attainment. Structural equation modeling of the associations between polygenic risk, personality (a weighed aggregate of education-related facets) and educational attainment lent relatively strongest support to the possibility of educational attainment mediating (explaining) some of the heritable variance in personality traits.
- Posted September 28, 2016.
